


Shattered

by Caitlin SnowFrost (HarleyJQuinzel)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-12-19 15:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11900664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarleyJQuinzel/pseuds/Caitlin%20SnowFrost
Summary: Summary – When a beloved member of Team Flash is savagely attacked, Barry and the others struggle to determine whether it is the work of a new metahuman or whether Central City’s newest threat is in fact human. AU, set during the middle of season one. Will be Snowbarry.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a regular Thursday morning for Barry Allen. He woke up to the early glow of daylight, and the smell of pancakes and fresh coffee. Running a hand through short, sleep-ruffled hair, he threw back the covers. He shuffled barefoot downstairs, toward the tempting scent.

Barry found Iris in the kitchen. She smiled her bright smile, pouring him a mug of coffee. She chatted excitedly about her wedding plans; she and Eddie had set a date. She was planning to shop for a dress. She set a stack of fluffy, golden pancakes in front of him.

“Morning Barry,” Joe strode into the West’s small, yet cozy, kitchen, dressed in a suit. He kissed his daughter’s cheek. “What are you doing here? I think I see more of you since you moved out.” He chided, though he was always happy to receive an impromptu visit from Iris.

“Ha-ha. Eddie had to work early. Catch up on some paperwork.” Iris set coffee, made with cream and sugar, in front of him and offered a grin. ‘Apparently, his partner is a real slave driver.”

“Is that so?” Joe chuckled.

Joe, preferring to keep work and personal lives separate, had struggled to accept Iris’s relationship with his partner to begin with. Though, slowly he’d grown fond of Eddie Thawne. As had Barry. Given that Eddie was privy to Barry’s secret identity, the young detective had proven himself an invaluable ally. A good friend. Plus, there was no denying that Eddie made Iris happy. She was happier since Eddie had proposed over Christmas than Barry remembered ever seeing her.

“Why aren’t you at work?” Iris asked Joe.

“Court date.” Every now and then Joe gave evidence in court. “And here I was thinking you’d come here to make me pancakes and butter me up.”

“Always,” Iris set a plate down in front of her father.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Joe grabbed a fork, tucking into his breakfast. He trickled thick maple syrup over the stack.

Iris tutted, “Dad, go easy.”

“She’s going to start lecturing me about my cholesterol next,” Joe grinned, setting the syrup bottle down. 

Barry laughed lightheartedly. It had been a common theme growing up under the West’s roof. Iris was looking out for the only parent she’d known for her whole life.

“Actually, I came to ask Barry to come wedding dress shopping with me?” She broached the subject with a pout, hoping coffee and pancakes would do the trick in persuading her best friend.

“What?” Barry swallowed a mouthful of coffee. When he’d secretly pined for her, he may have volunteered to go on one, maybe a handful, of shopping sprees, hoping she’d see him as anything other than a friend. But given Iris’s engagement, those days of unrequited love were behind him. He’d confessed his feelings, and he’d had to accept that she didn’t feel the same.

“I’m glad I only have to take care of the bill,” Joe weighed in.

“Dad!” Iris uttered, and Joe focused his attention back down at his plate. “So, Barry, what do you say?”

“I know nothing about weddings, or dresses,” Barry replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Come on,” Iris pleaded. Though bubbly and outgoing, Iris didn’t have any close girlfriends. She’d spent her time with him. “I’d have asked Caitlin, but we don’t know each other that well.”

Barry nodded. Caitlin Snow, and the others at S.T.A.R. Labs were a big part of his life, and the life of the Flash. But Iris remained in the dark about Barry’s true connection to the group of scientists. Iris and Caitlin were mere acquaintances, and it seemed simpler to keep it that way.

“I suppose I could ask Linda,” Iris suggested her Picture News colleague, knowing the sports reporter and Barry had shared a date.

Barry didn’t reply. He stared into the murky depths of his coffee. He liked Linda. She was smart, they’d had fun. He only hoped he wouldn’t have to juggle dating, and saving lives in peril, if Linda agreed to a second date.

“Barry?” Iris stirred him from his thoughts.

“Yeh?”

“Wedding dress shopping? Yes or no?”

“Sure,” Barry conceded.

“Great!” Satisfied, Iris gathered her purse and a flask. “I gotta run. I’m interviewing some socialite who was caught soliciting….” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “And here I thought being a reporter meant covering stories of heroes and villains. Or at least important issues.”

“It will baby,” Joe assured her. “It’s just going to take time to establish a name for yourself.”

Iris nodded. Joe was a role model to her hand Barry. He’d instilled the value of hard work, and succeeding on merit, in both. He’d worked hard to become a well-respected detective.

“See you both later.” She breezed out of the door.

“I better get going too,” Barry said, swallowing down a last mouthful of coffee. He planned on showering before heading out. “I promised I’d help Cisco with something this morning.”

“Okay, I’ll see you at the station later.” Barry left Joe drizzling more syrup on his pancakes.

-x-x-x-x- 

Given the unseasonal warmth of the early spring day, Barry decided to walk to S.T.A.R. Labs. For months, he’d run everywhere. He loved being the Flash. He’d happily push his limits to fully understand what his body was capable of. But since the emergence of the man in yellow, Dr. Wells was pushing hard. The novelty of being able to race across the city had worn off a little

It had been a while since he’d enjoyed life at a slower pace. Even before being struck by lightning, mornings meant being jammed up against fellow commuters. Always in a rush, never taking a breath. Never pausing to appreciate the city’s beauty and serenity.

That morning, Barry did just that. He strolled to CC Jitters. He purchased a latter, leaving his change in the tip jar. He walked, the breeze on his skin, rather than the air slapping him in the face. He sipped his coffee, glancing at the trees framing the sidewalks. Fresh buds were dotted on bare branches, waiting to burst open.

S.T.A.R Labs, encircled with high, wire-fencing, and notices of closure, came into view. Barry entered, never envisioning the scene waiting for him.

The parking lot was eerily quiet. The days of Dr. Harrison Wells’ thriving career, his employment of the world’s finest, had long passed. The only vehicle present was Caitlin’s aqua-colored Kia.

Intensely loyal, Caitlin had stuck by Wells through everything. She, and Cisco Ramon, were the only two of Wells’ hand-picked protégés who hadn’t left after his career and reputation exploded into nothing.  
Hardworking and dedicated, Caitlin was usually the first to arrive, and the last to leave. Especially since she’d learned her fiancé, Ronnie Raymond, was alive. The revelation that Ronnie, though alive, was different and wanted nothing to do with her, had crushed the young doctor. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that she was throwing herself into her work.

Stepping closer to the building, Barry’s eyes crawled over the vivid, red streaks shining against the asphalts. They disappeared around the car. Any intelligible thought died from his mind. Something was wrong. The memory of his mother, lying dead in his childhood home threatened to overwhelm him.

The barely-there moan stirred him into action. He rounded the car. Horror and alarm swelled within him. His coffee dropped with a low thud. The remaining, cold contents spilled over the tarmac.

Caitlin lay pale and motionless on the blackened ground. Her purse was tossed several feet away. Her cell, mere inches from her outstretched left hand, had been crushed underfoot. Shards of glass, plastic, and metal were scattered near the ruined device. Whoever had hurt her, had damaged the phone so she couldn’t call for help.

“Cait?” He crouched beside her. He brushed matted hair from her face. Her cheek was red and bruised. Her hands and forearms bore defensive marks. She’d fought back. Her hands grasped on to the silken blue and white floral scarf she loved. It was pressed to her chest. To the profusely-bleeding wound. The once pretty, pastel scarf was stained a dark, disturbing crimson.

“Cait?” He spoke louder, reaching out, pressing two fingers to her throat. He felt a delicate, tapping reassurance beneath her skin. Her pulse was weak but she was alive. The strong woman he knew was holding on.

“Barry?” Her voice was faint and barely recognizable. Her eyes fluttered open. Normally so controlled and poised, Caitlin’s lovely brown eyes gave way to the fear of her mortality. “Barry, I’m scared.” Her hands left the blood-soaked scarf, and it drooped. Pooling on the asphalt. She reached to clutch his head. It was as if she was saying goodbye. Her eyelids closed.

“No, no, no,” Barry firmly shook her shoulder. “Stay with me. Cait.” In a fluid motion, he shrugged off his hooded sweatshirt, and pressed it to her chest. The wound was deep, and close to the heart. Closer than he wanted to admit.

“It’s okay, I got you.” He stroked his fingers through her hair. “Look at me, Cait. I got you. Just hold on for me. Okay?”

Caitlin nodded. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She reached for his hand. The other moved to hold his hoodie firmly to her injury.

Barry squeezed her hand, wordlessly promising to do everything he could for her.  
“How bad?” she murmured.

“It’s bad.” There wasn’t time to call 911. He suspected she knew it. “I’m going to have to move you. Okay?”

“Do it.” Her voice was fragile, but her eyes reflected the trust she always placed in him.

Barry lifted her as gently as he could. Caitlin cried out, burying her face into his shoulder, in effort to bite back against the pain. Holding her, Barry ran, dashing and weaving through cars and people during the morning rush.

Once he reached Central City Hospital, he barely remembered to reduce his speed. He burst through the doors to the Emergency Room, feeling Caitlin lull against his shoulder. He chanced a look at her. She was holding on, but her eyes were glazed over. She was growing weaker.

All eyes were on Barry and Caitlin as he carried her into the busy, bustling ER. The voices in the crowded waiting area hushed. A doctor, a tall man with sandy hair, moved hastily to them. Dr. Matthew Logan, Barry read off the attending’s name tag, called for assistance and a gurney. Barry placed faith in the doctor with the calm and authoritative nature as head n the two orderlies pried Caitlin from his arms and laid her on the gurney.

“What have we got?” The doctor pressed his stethoscope to Caitlin chest.

“She…,” Barry’s voice shuddered. “I found her in the parking lot. She’s been stabbed.”

“Name?” Dr. Logan replaced the stethoscope back around his neck. 

“Caitlin Snow.”

“Okay, sit tight. We’ll take care of her.” Despite the graying bags under his eyes, Dr. Logan smiled with reassuring compassion, trying to keep Barry at ease. There was something about the doctor that made him want to believe his promise.

To be continued….


	2. Chapter 2

Barry sat idly in the waiting area after Caitlin was wheeled away. He called Joe, then Cisco. He tried Dr. Wells, and left a voicemail. Less than twenty minutes had passed since he’d found Caitlin, but it felt like an entire day had gone by.

With nothing to do but wait, he rested his head on his hand, jiggling his knee vigorously. His eyes kept flicking between the ticking clock, and the hospital personnel milling around.  
Every time a door opened, he looked up, hoping for an update. It struck him as painfully ironic, for a man who defied speed, physics, and the impossible, that waiting was torturous.

The minutes dragged by. Barry felt numb. Mystified as to how the morning’s events had unfolded. The team faced danger every day, but usually there was some murmur of a warning. The emergence of a new threat. Some way of knowing what was coming for them. This time, however, there hadn’t been even a whisper. The attack on Caitlin was shocking and senseless.

A young nurse stirred him from his thoughts. She offered him fresh scrubs, telling him he could clean up in the restroom. He asked for any news. The nurse, who probably fended off the same enquiry to countless friends and relatives, assured him that Caitlin was in good hands.

With that, Barry ushered to the bathroom. He moved to the sink. It was only when he looked in the mirror that he saw his face, hands, and clothes were covered in blood. Bowing his head, he turned on the faucet. He scrubbed his hands with soap and water, staring down at the clear, readily-flowing water mixing, and turning pink, with the remnants of blood.

He went about the motions of cleaning up, and changing clothes. He felt disloyal, washing away all traces of her. He didn’t know whether she was going to live or die. Yet he was cleansing his skin of all traces of a woman who’d believed in him when he’d doubted himself.

Barry bit back against the surge of raw emotions. Lowering his head, he splashed cold water on his face. He breathed deeply, attempting to quell his anxiety. He couldn’t afford to break, not with Caitlin fighting for her life. Not with Cisco on his way to the hospital, afraid for his best friend. Barry was supposed to be the hero. He had to be strong for his friends.

After drying his face, he moved back to the waiting area. He slumped into an available seat. Another glance to the clock, and he saw Cisco Ramon rush into the E.R. After a quick scan of the room, the young scientist made a beeline for the speedster.

“How is she?” Cisco’s round face shone with fear and concern. His longish hair was tucked haphazardly behind his ears.

“I don’t know,” Barry told him. “She’s still in surgery.”

“What happened?” Cisco looked terrified for his friend.

“Someone attacked her. They stabbed her. I found her in the parking lot.”

“What? Why?” The news hit hard. Cisco sank down on to a near plastic chair. “Why would anyone want to hurt Caitlin?”

“I don’t know.” It was hard to envision that the sweet bio-engineer had made an enemy of anyone in Central City, especially someone who would go to such extreme lengths to hurt her.

“Should we call her parents?” Barry gathered the relationship with her family was strained. Caitlin dodged the topic whenever it came up. But he figured any parent would want to know if their child’s life hung in jeopardy.

“Dr. Wells might a number for them.”

“He’s on his way over,” Barry supplied. “We can ask when he gets here.” 

Silence hung between them. Cisco sat in silence, staring into nothingness, his head resting heavily in his hands. It occurred to Barry that while going about the same routine, day after day, working, fitting in friends, and protecting the city, time flew by. However, with Caitlin hanging on by a thread, and him unable to do a thing to determine the outcome, time slowed to an uncomfortable pace.

Breaching the quiet, Barry turned to Cisco. “You guys, you had a Netflix night, last night, right?” Barry knew they binge-watched TV shows on occasion. It had become more ritualistic lately, with Caitlin relying on her friends more.

“Game of Thrones,” Cisco nodded. “We watched a few episodes. Then I left her apartment. She was totally fine.”

“She’s not mentioned anyone’s been bothering her? Following her?” Barry found himself asking the typical questions Joe would ask the victim’s closest friends and family.

“Not to me. You?” Cisco’s eyes clouded with doubt. 

“Could Ronnie have done this to her?” Barry chanced the question. He didn’t want to think the man Caitlin loved was capable of such an unspeakable act. But he didn’t know Ronnie. He had no idea what Ronnie Raymond was capable of. Especially now that he was back and a changed man.

 

“Ronnie?” Cisco voice raised with objection. He shook his head. “No! There’s no way Ronnie did this.”

“You’re sure?”

“I know Ronnie. At Christmas, when we saw him, saw he was different. He didn’t want to hurt her. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t have hurt her and left her to die.”

“I’m sorry,” Barry uttered the response he’d heard Joe state so many times when asking the difficult questions. The reality was he’d never known Ronnie, but hearing Caitlin, Cisco, and even Dr. Wells talk about him, it seemed a leap to think of him as a heartless predator.

“Do you think a metahuman did this?” Cisco asked quietly.

Barry considered the question. Except for Captain Cold, and Heatwave, who’d abducted Caitlin to lure him out, the metahumans usually targeted him or Wells.

“I don’t know. Something about what happened to her…,” Barry couldn’t explain the feeling. Something about the attack seemed odd. The attacker could have killed Caitlin outright. But he hadn’t. He’d broke her phone, leaving it just beyond her reach. He’d wanted her to suffer. He’d left her alone to die. The circumstances screamed to Barry that the attack was personal. From Barry’s training as a CSI, from his time at college, studying murderers and serial killers, the real psychopaths were all too real, and all too human.

“I don’t know, Cisco,” Barry uttered honestly. “Guess we’ll have to wait till we talk to Caitlin. See what the crime scene shows… But something about this…, it just, it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“What do you mean?” Cisco’s brow crinkled. 

Barry didn’t have time to answer. Dr. Harrison Wells steered into the waiting area. The once-respected entrepreneur, Barry’s mentor, scanned the room, locking on to their location. He navigated the wheelchair toward the men. Behind the thick-rimmed glasses, and smart eyes, he wore a look of concern. 

“Is there any news?” 

“She’s still in surgery,” Cisco told him in a shaky voice. 

“Caitlin’s in good hands,” Dr. Wells assured Cisco. In some ways, the S.T.A.R. Labs team served as a dysfunctional family. Cisco wasn’t close with his, falling short in comparison to his brother. Caitlin didn’t talk about her family. From what little Barry knew of Dr. Wells, he got the impression he didn’t have anyone to lean on either.

The three of them were the closest thing to family that any of them had in many respects. The team, sharing in Barry’s secret, had each other, and in the few short months Barry had spent working with them, he’d seen how much they cared for each other, and for Barry. In return, Barry had come to care for them also.

“What happened?” Dr. Wells directed at Barry. “You say you found Caitlin in the parking lot?”

“Yes. She’d barely made it out of her car.” Barry felt a chilling certainty that the attacker had been lying in wait.

“We’ll review the security footage. See if the cameras caught anyone.” 

Nodding, Barry felt the buzz of his phone. He retrieved it from the depths of the scrubs’ pocket. Reading, he pulled himself from the chair.

“Listen, Joe just texted me. The police are on scene.” Reluctant as he was to leave Caitlin, and Cisco, he couldn’t do anything at the hospital but wait. He felt the pull to process the crime scene. See it with his own eyes. He wanted whoever had hurt Caitlin caught. The best way he could do that was doing his day job.

“Of course! Go!” Dr. Wells said with a firm nod. 

Barry looked to the young engineer. Cisco was clearly struggling but gave Barry the go ahead. “I’ll text you. Just find whoever did this.”

“Thank you,” Barry patted Cisco’s shoulder.

x-x-x-x-x

 

The police were processing the scene when Barry arrived. He slowed, coming to a halt behind the vast, rounded structure. Outside, and given that the winds had picked up since earlier, the chilly air whipped at his skin, and the loose-fitting scrubs did little to fend off the cold.

He proceeded hastily to the area cordoned off by yellow tape, toward the faces he saw every day. He’d worked a few cases over his time at the CCPD, where the victim was a police officer. Those cases carried a special sense of urgency. Cops saw a lot that they’d rather forget, they dealt in life and death situations. They had each-others’ backs. They were uncompromisingly loyal to one another. They took an attack on their own very seriously. Barry understood the sentiment more than ever that day.

“Hey,” Joe approached him, his deep eyes registered the seriousness of the situation. “How’s Caitlin doing?”

“She’s in surgery. Cisco’s going to text as soon as we know more.”

Wordlessly, Joe collected a standardized CCPD windbreaker he always kept in the trunk of his car. He tossed it to the younger man.

Shrugging into it gratefully, Barry zipped it up to the neck to ward of the chill.

“And how are you holding up?” 

Given that Joe had been a constant source of support and strength since the death of his mother, Barry didn’t bother to deny he was wrestling with his emotions. His friend’s life hung in the balance. Finding her the way he had in the parking lot had sparked memories of finding his own mother dead. So, instead, he dodged the question. “I’ve been better. Did you find anything?”

“The techs are processing the scene. We’ve interviewed the security guard. He didn’t see anything. You’d think this place would have more than one security guard.” It was no secret that Joe didn’t like, or trust, Dr. Wells. “The security camera should have caught something.” Joe pointed at the camera pointed squarely at the mint-colored Kia.

Glancing to the camera, Barry was instantly grateful for Caitlin’s over-cautiousness. She’d chosen her usual spot wisely, and hopefully it would turn up some clue as to her attacker’s identity.

The atmosphere was heavy and somber as Joe and Barry walked the scene. The evidence was being processed and catalogued. Each item of interest was marked with a letter. Though Barry went about the exact some process, it felt cold and clinical. Alien. The techs worked with a fixed detachment. Barry’s eyes trailed to the discarded scarf, the broken cell, the blood, his spilled coffee. All labelled. The sad remnants of the violence that had occurred earlier.

“Barry,” Joe’s voice was laced with concern. “If this is too much, no one is going to think less of you.”

“No,” Barry planted his hands in the depths of the windbreaker’s pockets. “I need to be here.”

Detective Eddie Thawne stood nearby, talking with one of the uniformed officers. Eddie met Barry’s gaze, and offered a nod by way of hello. Once finished with the officer, Eddie moved to Barry and Joe. “I’m sorry man,” Eddie extended his sympathies. “If there’s anything I can do.”

“Thank you.” Not long ago, Barry had seen Eddie solely as a rival. But as they worked the job together, and Eddie offered his assistance to S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry found himself liking Eddie. Eddie was a good cop, and a standup guy.

“Dinwiddie turn anything up?” Joe asked after a beat, inquiring if the uniformed officer had found any shred of evidence whilst canvassing the immediate area.

“Nothing yet,” Eddie supplied. “This wasn’t a robbery. Caitlin’s purse wasn’t touched. None of her money or credit cards were taken. The techs will dust for prints, but I doubt they’ll find any.”

“Could the attack have been personal?” Joe looked to Barry. “Did she mention that anyone’s been bothering her? Following her?”

“Not to me. Or Cisco.”

“Why would anyone want to do this to a person like Caitlin?” Eddie uttered Cisco’s same words. It was those words that spun around Barry’s head.

“I don’t know,” Barry uttered. Despite her somewhat guarded exterior, Caitlin Snow was the gentlest, most compassionate person Barry had come across. 

“Has there been any metahuman activity?” Eddie weighed in.

“No, it’s been oddly quiet since Peekaboo.” 

“And the fiancé?” Joe asked, and both he, and Eddie, looked to Barry. “The burning man? Could he have done this?”

“I asked Cisco the same thing. He seemed certain Ronnie Raymond wasn’t responsible.”

“But how much do we really know about him? Especially now that he’s back but not really him.” It was Joe’s job to consider all possible suspects, and then to decide how likely or unlikely they were.

“We need to get hold of the security tapes,” Eddie uttered.

“Sir, I found this thrown behind the dumpster back there.” Patty Spivot, the newest CSI team member, strode over, showing them the weapon that most likely had been used on Caitlin. The tall, blonde woman pointed to the row of dumpsters at the fence’s northern perimeter.

“May I?” Joe reached for the bagged evidence.

“Of course,” Patty readily handed over the weapon before presenting a second baggie containing three cigarette butts. “I also found these. I’ll get them tested as soon as I get back to the lab.”

“See that you do. The woman who was attacked, she’s a good friend of ours.”

Patty bob her head in understanding, “I’ll put a rush on the results.”

“I’d appreciate that.” He offered the keen, young officer a smile of encouragement. “Good work, Spivot.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Patty smiled and with that, she sauntered away.

“Huh,” Eddie’s eyes narrowed to study the instrument Joe held. “Not your run-of-the-mile knife.”

“Let me see that.” Barry peered at the knife wrapped in clear plastic. The blade had been wiped clean. He suspected that would be the case. It wasn’t uncommon for criminals to attempt to wipe away all signs of evidence. But it was the jewels and the symbol at the hilt that gave him pause. “This was found here?”

“That’s what she said. Why?” Joe cast Barry a curious, sideways glance.

“It’s just that,” Barry studied the handle closely. “I’ve seen this symbol. I recognize the markings.”

“You do?” Eddie’s interest peeked. “From where?”

“I wish I knew,” Barry idly stroked his fingers against the plastic, running his index over the symbol that felt unsettlingly familiar.

x-x-x-x-x

Returning to the hospital, Barry had more questions than he had answers. He was certain he’d seen the knife, or at least the symbol, before, but try as he might he couldn’t recall where. His mind continuously drew a blank.

“Hey, did you find anything?” Cisco asked. He remained in the same seat as where Barry had left him. His hands were curled around a barely-touched coffee.

“Just this?” Barry showed a picture of the knife that he’d taken on his phone. “Does it look familiar to you?”

“No,” Cisco’s eyes shadowed as he stared at the weapon. “Should it?”

“The symbol,” Barry explained, “I’ve seen it before.”

“Yeah? From where?”

“I don’t know.” Barry ran a hand over his tired eyes. He needed a coffee.

Before he had chance to head to the vending machines, Dr. Logan appeared before them. Dressed in surgical scrubbed he looked weary. His face was focused and neutral as he gathered Barry, Cisco and Dr. Wells together. Barry couldn’t tell if he came bearing good news or bad.

“There were some complications during surgery,” Dr. Logan began. Out of the corner of his eye, Barry watched Cisco’s face grow pale and his eyes widened. 

The doctor continued, and Barry tried to process the words coming out of his mouth. The intricate details spun in the air, and made the speedster dizzy at the very thought of them. He learned that Caitlin had needed to be resuscitated twice in the OR. She’d needed a blood transfusion. 

“The surgery was a success.” The words put an instant stop to his sickening worry. Barry breathed in deeply as Dr. Logan continued, “We’re hopeful that Caitlin to make a full recovery, though she’s not completely out of the woods just yet. She will to remain under close care and observation. The road to recovery isn’t going to be easy. It will be slow given the severity of the wound.”

“Can we see her?” Cisco uttered the request once the doctor had said his piece.

“You’re family?” Dr. Logan asked. 

“They’re the closest thing to it,” Dr. Wells supplied without a moment’s hesitation. “Caitlin isn’t close with her family.”

Dr. Logan, a good man, and a good doctor, nodded toward Barry and Cisco. “Just two at a time. I’ll have a nurse come and get you.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Dr. Wells extended his gratitude to the ER doctor who’d fought to save Caitlin’s life.

Dr. Logan’s reaction to Dr. Wells was one that Barry had seen many-a-time. The look of distrust and loathing flashed on Dr. Logan’s face momentarily. Dr. Wells had destroyed a lot of lives with his revolutionary work with the particle accelerator. Clearly Dr. Logan wasn’t someone who supported the tycoon.

“Thank your friend,” Dr. Logan gestured toward Barry. “He got her to us just in the nick of time.” With that, and a nod to Barry, the doctor left.


	3. Chapter 3

It was raining outside. Caitlin could hear the sound of rain beating against the windows. She drifted in and out of consciousness, listening to the pouring rain, and the whoosh of traffic. She couldn’t move. Her body felt leaden, like it was being held down by something heavy. She began to become increasingly aware of the pain localized in her center, and she moaned from the depths of her throat.

Trying hard, and with great effort, she pushed her eyes open. She took in the bleak environment. There were tubes going into her arm, and machines bleeping steadily at her side. Slightly elevated, she lay with plastic railings raised, and surrounding her. The bed sheets were white and scratchy. Alarm and panic seeped into her mind. It made her feel sick to her stomach. She was in the hospital.

She remembered him. Remembered his huge, hulking frame coming up from behind her. She remembered his brute strength as he wrenched her from her feet, and pinned her down in the parking lot. She’d never forget him. Never forget his voice. Cold and cruel. Inhuman.

Squeezing her eyes tight, and shutting out the unwanted memory, Caitlin turned her head a fraction. The slight movement sparked pain in both her head and her chest. She winced, and though her sight was blurred, she watched the whole room, as it began to spin around in front of her eyes. Nausea seared its way up into her throat. She moaned, fighting against the urge to throw up.

A person, she guessed it was a nurse, entered into her field of vision. The figure was dressed in hospital scrubs, and they hovered above her. They were indistinct, and yet they seemed so familiar. Caitlin tried to focus on them, tried to look at their face, and meet their eyes, but she couldn’t. She parted her lips, attempting to speak, but no sound came out, that was aside from a low, hoarse groan.

“Cait, Cisco’s outside. He’s looking forward to seeing you. He’s been waiting. I’ll go get him.”

Finding comfort in those words, and the sound of the voice, her heavy eyelids fluttered shut. She heard the tapping of footsteps echoing out of the room. Cisco, she thought gratefully. Cisco never failed to cheer her up. At the thought, she drifted back to sleep, while the rain rattled against the glass.

She awoke a little later. She was alone. The pain was worse, but her mind was less foggy. The anesthetic had to be wearing off. She ran her tongue clumsily around the inside of her mouth. Both her tongue and her mouth were dry. The left side of her face felt tender. Shakily, and keeping her eyes firmly shut, she brought a hand up to her swollen cheek. Her whole body hurt, but her chest and her head hurt the worst. With a murmur, she wondered how long she’d been there in the hospital. A day? Maybe longer?

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” 

At the sound of the voice, tentatively, Caitlin opened her eyes. The room was dimly lit, and it was dark outside. The rain had stopped. 

A nurse shuffled forward into the room, pushing a medicine trolley in front of her. The nurse was a middle-aged woman with short, black hair and a kind smile. “Hello Caitlin. You’re in the ICU at Central City Hospital. I’m your nurse, Liz. I’m going to check your vitals. And give you your medication. Your friends are just outside. They’ll be happy to see you.”

Again, Caitlin tried to speak, but no reply passed her lips. Nothing but a low whimper. Promptly Liz held a plastic cup of water, with a bent surgical straw, to Caitlin’s lips so she could drink. Caitlin sipped at the cool liquid greedily. It trickled its way soothingly down her dry throat. When she was done, Liz took the glass away, and set it down on the small table at the bedside.

Resting against the pillows, Caitlin looked over Liz’s shoulder. Her eyes fixed on the red and white roses sitting on the window sill. She tried to speak once more. But it still seemed like such a huge effort, and she gave up with a long, frustrated sigh. Though her eyes never left the bouquet.

“It’s okay,” Liz busied herself preparing a syringe. “You’re due some medication. It’ll help with the pain.”

She injected the clear fluid into Caitlin’s I.V. A sensation of coldness seeped beneath her flesh and crept up her arm. A sensation of heavy sleepiness soon followed.

“You were involved in an accident,” Liz said softly. She discarded the used medical supplies and offered a gentle smile. She gestured to the stocky, uniformed officer stationed vigilantly outside her room. “The police put a detail on your door. You’re safe now.”

Caitlin lifted her head from the pillow, only to be rewarded with the sharpness of pain, dizziness, and nausea. It was then that she finally found her voice. “Ronnie,” his name passed her cracked lips beside she slipped back under the black blanket of sleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Early the next morning, Caitlin slowly and reluctantly opened her eyes up to the harsh lighting above her. Hastily, she closed her eyelids against the offensive brightness. Her mind felt muddled from sleep, and the medication, and her chest felt tight. Gingerly, she opened her eyes again, and this time, she turned her head away from the ceiling. The small, simple movement zapped what little strength she had.

She scanned her surroundings. She saw Barry sitting on one of two plastic chairs that were clustered together on the opposite side of the room. He was wearing blue scrubs and a police windbreaker. There were several discarded vending-machine coffee cups and empty candy bar wrappers scattered around him. She noted Cisco’s hooded ‘Bazinga’ sweatshirt draped over the back of the empty seat.

“Barry, hey,” she rasped in a weak voice that barely sounded like hers.

“Hey,” Barry’s blue eyes lit up with relief when he saw that she was awake. He stood up, and crossed to her bedside. He offered a warm smile of reassurance. With dark circles beneath his eyes and disheveled hair, she guessed he’d been there for most, if not all, of the night. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better,” she joked feebly. “A little out of it. I must look terrible.”

“No, not at all.” Ever the polite gentleman, Barry shook his head at her statement. “Are you in any pain? I can call the nurse.”

“It hurts a little,” Caitlin grumbled in reply. Her free hand moved almost unconsciously to the white gauze taped to her chest. As she did, she noticed the bandaging wrapped around her wrist. For a split second, she was back in the parking lot. He was on top of her. He was slashing at her with his knife and she was trying to fend him off. He’d cut her arm repeatedly in the struggle.

“It’s okay,” Barry uttered gently, bringing her back into the present. His finger hit the call button. He sat down on the bed next to her. “Cait, you were attacked. Do you remember?”

Caitlin nodded hesitantly. “I remember…. It’s blurry but I remember….” 

Her voice caught up painfully in her throat, and threatened to choke her. Her thoughts and memories were jumbled partly because of the effects of the medication, and partly because of the traumatic event. She could remember snippets and sensations. She remembered the hardness of the asphalt against her back. She remembered the rancid smell of his breath, stale and laced with tobacco. She wished that she didn’t. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes as she remembered the cold metal of his blade against her skin.

“It’s okay,” Barry’s hand curled tightly around her greyish one. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Caitlin tugged softly at his hand. Despite all the fear and the pain of the morning in question, and now lying and recovering in a hospital bed, she attempted to smile among the looming tears. “The one good thing I remember is you, Barry….” She’d all but given up in the S.T.A.R. Labs parking lot, and he’d come to her rescue. “I thought I was gonna die. You saved my life. Thank you.”

Barry offered a kind smile, and told her honestly, “I’m just glad you’re okay. You kinda scared me back there.”

Caitlin offered a thin smile, and in a barely-audible voice replied, “I scared myself.”

The speedster didn’t speak another word on the subject. But the look in his eyes told her that he knew his intervention had been a little too close for comfort. She knew it too, and it frightened her to the core.

“Where’s Cisco?” Caitlin asked keen to change tack.

“The doctors said you were going to be out of it for a while because of the medication, so Cisco and Dr. Wells went to get the security tapes for Joe. He texted me a few minutes ago, he’s on his way back.”

Caitlin nodded. Cisco had re-written the S.T.A.R. Labs security programs after the particle accelerator explosion, and the emergence of the metahumans. It made sense for him to retrieve the tapes for the police. But Caitlin wanted to see his face and hear his voice.

Silence fell between them for several long moments, before Barry opened his mouth and broached the burning questions hanging between them. “Cait, I’ve got to ask you this.”

“I know. It’s okay,” she nodded. She knew what was coming. Knew that he had to ask as both he, and she, wanted whoever was responsible for the attack caught. And quickly. Before the person had a chance to hurt anyone else.

“But if it’s too much we can stop.” He gave her hand another reassuring squeeze.

“I’m okay,” Caitlin answered feeling anything but okay.

“Can you think of anyone who’d have wanted to do this to you?”

Caitlin thought for a moment. She’d asked herself that same question and came up empty. “No, I don’t think so.

“Did you see his face?”

Caitlin shook her head. She felt the tears stinging at the back of her eyes before she replied. “No, he wore a mask. A ski mask.” She strained her memory further. She’d binge-watched enough crime shows with Cisco to knew that any small, and seemingly insignificant detail could help. “He had a tattoo though. On his neck. I saw it in the struggled. A snake. It was black, and it was devouring itself.” 

Barry swallowed hard at the image conjuring before his eyes before asking, “did he say anything to you?”

Caitlin nodded silently by way of her answer. She focused on the white sheets covering her to the waist.

“Would you recognize his voice if you heard it again?”

“Yes, I’d never forget it. He had traces of an accent, like he was trying to cover it up. But I couldn’t place it.” Her hand toyed idly with her bandaged one.

“What did he say anything to you?” 

Caitlin opened her mouth and then closed it again.

“Cait?” Barry’s voice was kind as he prompted her for an answer. “Do you need to stop? We can take a break.”

“He said I deserved it for what I did.” The words left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was personal, it had to be, but she didn’t know who she’d wronged, or how. 

“Caitlin, this wasn’t your fault.”

“It all happened so fast…,” she choked out. The attack played out before her eyes all over again. He hadn’t spoken another word to her as he’d hit her and hurt her. Caitlin’s eyes blurred with the thick onslaught of tears.

“Shh,” Barry gathered her up into his arms as she broke down. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” He stroked her hair and Caitlin buried her face in his chest and cried for the first time since the assault.

To be continued….


End file.
